Grow Your Fitness Business to the Next Level

THE 9-POINT FITNESS MARKETING PLAN TO CREATE LIFETIME CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS

By Sean Greeley, NPE Founder & CEO

EVERY FITNESS BUSINESS GETS STUCK. WHETHER YOU ARE BRAND NEW OR RUNNING A STUDIO FOR YEARS…YOU REACH A POINT WHERE YOU STOP GROWING. THE TWO BIGGEST REASONS:

1. Net client count stays the same or shrinks.

2. Client lifetime value hits a ceiling or declines.

Why? Usually, you’re focusing on one thing at the expense of another. You go out and get clients and let client experience slide. Or you get a bunch of clients and forget about marketing.

What’s the answer? We’ve found fitness business owners need to create a perfect client journey that creates lifetime relationships. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Attract Leads

Most fitness professionals and business owners serve any client who comes their way. They don’t want to miss out on any opportunity.

MOST FITNESS BUSINESS OWNERS GO WRONG AND THINK IT’S ALL ABOUT PROMOTIONS AND HYPE.

Problem: If you’re trying to talk to “anybody,” you end up with generic, boring messaging. No one will listen. Better: Speak directly to one kind of client – Moms, C-suite execs, 70-year-olds. Choose one.

Next, define your message. What problem can’t they solve? What’s holding them back? How can your solution help? You can only answer those questions if you know your ideal client at a deep level.

Once you have your messaging strategy, look for leads. Don’t fall for the trap of using only word of mouth to grow. Broaden your channels and lead sources with organic, social, and local SEO, public speaking, networking, partners, new mover lists with direct mail, and more! Next, capture leads. Your website needs to be simple, direct, and organized. Your home page must clearly communicate your value proposition (target market + benefits), an offer, a credibility statement, a call to action, and testimonials. And for visitors that are in research mode, offer them something of value for their contact info, and then you’re ready for the next step.

IF YOU’RE TRYING TO TALK TO “ANYBODY,” YOU END UP WITH GENERIC, BORING MESSAGING.

Step 2: Convert Prospects

Turn prospects into clients. Do that by becoming a trusted source of info about solving their problems. Most fitness business owners go wrong and think it’s all about promotions and hype. It’s not. People stop listening to hype.

Better strategy: Educate prospective clients. Show yourself working with other clients, answer FAQs, create short how-to videos … and include lots of PROOF.

Next, craft the right offers. Most fitness business owners fail to refine and test offers and then get weak results.

Instead, choose among the following: free trial, paid trial, free consult, and paid assessment. Give people a powerful reason to engage. One of our clients has used a paid trial -- 3 sessions for $99 -- successfully for years. But when we tested his language and nuances around the offer, we increased response significantly!

Once people engage in a meeting with you, inspire them to make a strong commitment to their health and fitness goals. We teach a 7-step sales system called AUTO-CLOSERTM that’s worked for thousands of fitness businesses since 2006 and has produced more than $1 billion in fitness sales. This is a powerful system. When you master this, you can close 80-100% of the people you meet with high-ticket premium priced programs. More important, you’ll have clients who are “all in” and inspired.

Step 3: Wow Clients

Congrats, you’ve got clients! Now you need to wow them with massive value, so they become long-term and even lifetime clients. More value equals less churn. And you do that by consistently auditing and improving client experience, relationships, and delivering great results.

When you’ve done that well, then you’ve got happy clients you can engage in promoting your business with reviews and referring you to friends and family looking for the solution your business provides.

Finally, renew and upsell. Remind people on a schedule so renewal becomes natural. And look for additional problems that you can help them solve and create more value with new product and service upsell opportunities. Remember, you are serving when you are helping them continue progressing with their fitness journey.

Summary

Getting stuck is normal. Staying stuck is optional. To gain momentum again, you’ll need to assess and upgrade the journey, leads, prospects, and clients to go with your business.

Target the right people, generate leads, and capture contact info. Convert these leads into clients. Then once they’ve signed up and are committed, “wow’ them and continue leading and serving to create clients for life!

Sean Greeley, Founder and CEO of NPE, has an unrelenting passion for empowering fitness business owners to grow their business and create the life they want. Since 2006, NPE has helped over 45,000+ fitness professionals and studio owners to grow their business, take home more money, and have the time freedom to enjoy it.

‘Assess Don’t Guess’ your Fitness Marketing Capabilities. #MakeGains in just five minutes with this FREE 27-point assessment (comes with individualized plan) at www.npefitness.com/assessment